Monday 26th MarchI arrived just before lunch with a trailer containing 4 half filled builder's bags of leaves from a neighbour. It took a great deal of effort to drag them to the stack of similar bags awaiting room in my leafmould bins but eventually I got them stacked on top.I really do need an old lawnmower to shred the leaves up to speed up composting and reduce the volume!​

​Then as I checked over the rest of the plot, I came across a sorry sight. On my last visit I had noticed a rat tap had been sprung but caught nothing. With some difficulty I reset it but was obviously distracted as I left it out on my rhubarb forcing tub. There I found it with a bird caught in it which I was later advised was a wren. The trap obviously works but the rats are clever enough to avoid getting caught. I buried the body, after taking a photo for identification, alongside my fruit trees where I bury any rats I catch.

That done I opted to get another row of seed potatoes planted. There was just enough room next to my Arran Pilot potatoes I had already planted for another row of earlies without disturbing my Brussels sprouts so, working from the boards, I could just fit in another row and plant my Charlotte seed.

​I fitted in 11 tubers leaving 3 to plant in containers at home.

​I then set about weeding the rest of the onions. The damp soil and likelihood of rain meant that after hoeing the weeds between the rows I had to rake the weeds out to stop them rooting again. I had cut down an old rake, cutting a couple of tines from each side, so it fitted between the rows. I finished with a big heap of weeds to add to the compost. The groundsel was just about to flower so it was important to remove the tops to stop it seeding.

​The onion bed nice and clear of weeds - and the path swept clean. The boards helped me navigate between the rows without compressing the soil with my feet.

Sunday 25th MarchAfter an Association committee meeting on-site to discuss several issues about the new cabin, I got on to the plot rather late. I had three tasks I wanted to get done so set about the first one of removing the huge pile of prunings from the blueberries and blackberry. I managed to squeeze them into a large builders bag being very careful with the thorns on the gooseberry twigs. As I finished I realised I had missed a couple of gooseberry bushes and they had started into growth so I spent a while pruning them so I could take all the prunings to the tip in one go.I then started the process of deploying the anti-mole bulbs I bought that arrived in the post yesterday. Following the instructions I planted three bulbs on a line across across the entrance, one by the path and one by each side boundary. They were only small bulbs but had to be planted 2-3 inches deep. I now need to wait a week before planting 3 more bulbs 6 or 7 metres further up the plot. I then finish by planting a further up the plot at 4 day intervals. The moles are supposed to be repelled by the slight smell given off by the bulbs so move away off my plot. My apologies to my neighbours!I then decided to leave weeding another row of onions in favour of getting the first of my Arran Pilot potatoes planted before the shoots got too long. I planted a row of 11 tubers leaving a couple which I plan to plant in pots at home.​

The Brussel Sprouts are still cropping but I've managed to dig over part of the patch so I can plant the Early Potatoes.

​Finally I harvested a leek to go with the couple of small ones left from the last harvest, a large, very scabby, parsnip and a good picking of curly kale before going home for a late Sunday lunch.

Thursday 22nd MarchA mistake in the date of an appointment meant I had a free morning to come down to the plot. I brought some broad bean plants that needed planting out after growing on in the greenhouse and hardened off in the frame.Unfortunately the patch needed digging first. I had covered a strip with some corrugated plastic I have for cloches to warm the earth so I didn't want to move the soil around too much. However my back won't cope with using an ordinary spade and my Backsaver spade requires I start with a trench.

Having removed a barrowload of soil for the trench, it took only a short time to dig the patch and my back was not strained.

​Backsaver tools are extremely expensive but they do 'what's on the tin'. (Mine is an old pre-Backsaver label version given to me many years ago and now proving its worth!)I was pleased that there was so little bindweed root in three patch, the biggest infestation being next to, and coming from under, the path. I was tempted to lift a slab to get at the source but being pressed for time decided to leave it until later. What roots I found went into the top of my incinerator to be dealt with another time.

​I then turned to the next most expensive tool in my collection, the Wolf Garten hoe/cultivator purchased some time ago with a birthday present Stewarts voucher. On a long handle it is excellent at breaking down soil into a fine filth and did a grand job on the lumpy patch. I only worked on half the strip, leaving the rest to break down naturally, as I only need a strip to plant the beans so the difference is clear in the photo.

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I then laid out boards along the strip and fetched the broad bean plants. I had sown 30 seeds in toilet roll tubes but only got 13 plants so I spaced them out along the row leaving quite a space between each and with extra compost from the blind tubes alongside.A new sowing of broad beans is already sprouting in the greenhouse at home.

​Once the beans were all planted I fetched a polythene tunnel cloche from the shed to protect the young plants from the elements until they get established.

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That done I turned to my part weeded onions and used the hoe to cut through the roots before hand weeding. I weeded one more row, just 3 more to go!

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​I then looked to harvesting. I already had Brussels waiting at home but a neighbour came by and I offered him some, at which he produced a lovely jar of honey he got from working with a friend. An excellent trade! I then dug up a few leeks and pulled some more forced rhubarb to take home.

​Tuesday 13th MarchThere's much to do on the plot so I had to prioritise. After emptying the kitchen waste and the first bag of grass cuttings of the year from a neighbour, I went straight to collect the canes from the shed. I first needed to hammer in the posts to firm them up so I fetched the thumper and installed all the posts I needed for blackberries and raspberries - and the runner beans. I then cut the bottoms of plastic bottles to be caps to these posts. However, I found I had left the stapler at home so had to collect them all to store in the shed until I can fix them on the posts so the wind won't blow them off.

I fixed a few more screws to rest 3 canes on and wired them on between the posts and then tied the six remaining vines along them.

​There was a mountain of prunings that will have to be taken to the tip which can be seen in the foreground in front of the lovely tidy gooseberries and blackberries.

​Thank goodness they are thornless! - And I still need to dig out several shoots where the stems have touched the ground and rooted.Finally I harvested some Brussels leaving enough for 3 or 4 more meals, though the end plant which was always rather weedy has started producing small buttons that are getting larger. I then picked a tip from each of the curly kale plants giving enough for a meal of tender small leaves without any whitefly!

Sunday 4th MarchAfter replenishing my stock of compost and lime at the Trading Hut and chatting quite a bit I went on to the plot with limited time.I decided that I would be best just doing one task. I sorted out my thickest gloves and put them on over another thin set so I could work with the thorny branches of my gooseberries.The bushes had got very congested because I had left them alone having transplanted them recently. I selected several outward pointing branches and cut out all those hanging down onto the ground aiming for a goblet shape. I then trimmed about a third off each twig ensuring all crossing twigs were sorted.I finished with much tidier bushes and a great heap of thorny twigs that need dealing with, once I sort out how to carry them down to the tip.

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Hi! As "Webmaster" for this site I feel a bit of a fraud. I am neither an expert at IT nor at growing vegetables. I do enjoy playing at both, however.I have a 10 rod plot in the middle of the site, having transferred in 2012 from a 5 rod plot I had been cultivating for about 5 years. I needed to give myself space to grow a wider range of crops.I will be recording my thoughts and activities on the allotment as well as sharing any knowledge and information I gain in my 'travels'.I constantly seek hints and advice from my neighbouring, and usually more knowledgeable, plot holders and will pass on anything I think is of general use via this blog.